Lebanese Army Announces Ceasefire In Offensive Against IS

Beirut(August 27, 2017): Lebanon’s army has announced a ceasefire in its offensive against ISIS fighters at the country’s northeast border with Syria.

The ceasefire took effect at 7am local time (04:00 GMT) in order to determine the fate of Lebanese soldiers who are in ISIS captivity, the military statement said.

The Lebanese army has been battling ISIS fighters in their last border foothold, near the town of Ras Baalbek.

The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and the Syrian army, who are engaged in another offensive against ISIS on the other side of the frontier in Syria along the border with Lebanon, announced a ceasefire that took effect at the same time.

The attack began last week, coinciding with the Hezbollah and the Syrian army offensive against Daesh in Syria’s western Qalamoun region. The Lebanese army said it is not coordinating its military operations with the Syrian army.

Northeast Lebanon saw one of the worst spillovers of Syria’s war into Lebanon in 2014, when ISIS, or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group, and other armed groups briefly overran the border town of Arsal.